This has not been one
of our most successful trips, although we have enjoyed it and have
actually achieved a great deal. To be fair it didn't start off well,
with health issues and our normal pre-trip preparation out of the
window together with problems with Bertie which dogged us throughout
the trip. Then having reached our objective, Nordkap, it was so
disappointing that the weather refused to cooperate and indeed
spoiled almost all of our time in Norway itself. Yes we bought the
videos and books but it's not the same.
But that's life, so
some general observations. First of all it was, as expected, a long
long drive – just short of 6000 miles in total which in five and a
bit weeks is a lot. Limiting ourselves to around 200 miles per day
and no more than four hours driving helped, as did the few “days
off” we took along the way. There are few motorways in Scandinavia
athough the main roads are generally well maintained and traffic
free. We would certainly recommend that you need six weeks minimum.
The advice to drive
north through Sweden then return through Norway was spot on. We'd
just add that if you are intending to return south without touring
the fjord areas, come back into Sweden; the roads are much better and
it is somewhat cheaper. The E6 through Norway was an awful drive.
Norway, in particular, is very good at springing tolls on you
unexpectedly and we're waiting to see how many we used – they send
you the bill at home if you haven't made other arrangements.
There's no getting away
from it, Scandinavia can be expensive. We do not have any extravagant
habits, such as regular meals and drinks out, but even so we felt
that things were still just that bit more expensive than the UK. Food
shopping can be economised by using the chain supermarkets; we found
Coop (not Co-op) to be quite reasonable. Fuel was about on a par with
UK prices and didn't seem to vary much although maybe it was a little
more the further north we went. Forget buying alcohol, even if you
can find the shops! Souvenir shopping is, as everywhere a rip-off but
sometimes you have to – stuffed fluffy reindeer anybody?
Despite all we've read
about being able to stop anywhere, it turned out not to be as simple
as that, especially on the main roads. In Norway rest areas and dump
stations were frequent and well marked but we encountered several
places which had notices discouraging overnight parking. Campsites,
however, were everywhere with usually superb facilities and free wifi
but at around £20 per night which did not always include
electricity. To be fair due to our problems we did not get far off
the main roads so things may well be different in quieter areas. Do
get the Keycard, a camping carnet card which almost all campsites
want. You can buy it at your first campsite but it is easier to order
before you go and the first site will validate it for you. It also
offers discounts on a wide range of things – we saved 10% off the
ferry fare from Germany to Denmark, which alone paid the cost of the
card itself.
Without exception we
found the people everywhere to be friendly and helpful, but not
pushy. The best part, though, was that everybody speaks English
naturally, as a second language. Just as well because thankyou (tak)
was about the best we could do otherwise!
So would we go back?
Yes, but probably only to south west Norway, the area we really
wanted to see and didn't. Sweden was fine if you like trees for
scenery, as was Finland, and probably has more to offer than we
encountered but we don't feel the urge to return, except maybe to
concentrate on a particular area. Visiting Father Christmas, of
course, is every kids dream.........
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